Allahabad HC orders status quo in cancellation of JAL land lease by Yamuna Expressway Development Authority subject to Rs 100 crore deposit

The Allahabad High Court has directed for maintenance of status quo with respect to the cancellation of land allotted to Jai Prakash Associates Ltd (JAL) under Special Development Zone Scheme, subject to JAL depositing Rs 100 crore with the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority..The Order was passed by a Division Bench of Sudhir Agarwal and Rajeev Mishra in JAL’s challenge to YEIDA’s order cancelling the allotment of land to JAL..The lease-deeds for about 1000 odd hectares of land was cancelled after JAL defaulted in payment of lease rent, premium and interest..JAL argued that although it was not disputed that there were some pending dues, substantial payment of Rs 2,379.74 crores had already been made. It was further explained that the delay was on account of a serious financial crisis in the Real Estate Sector..It was thus submitted that the cancellation of entire lease hold was arbitrary and at best, only proportional cancellation could have been made..JAL also sought an interim relief in the matter as Authorities were allegedly proceeding to take over possession of entire allotted land..YEIDA sought time to file response to the petition and claimed that the amount due was Rs. 287 crores and not Rs. 225 crore as claimed by JAL..After hearing the parties, the Court ordered for maintenance of status quo subject to payment of Rs. 100 crore by JAL to YEIDA.It said,.“Petitioner-M/S Jai Prakash Associates Ltd. shall deposit Rs.100 crores with respondent-2 within one month but in two parts. Rs.50 crores shall be paid by 10th of March, 2020 and another Rs.50 crores shall be paid by 25th of March, 2020.”Delhi High Court .The Court clarified that in case the amount is not paid, the interim protection shall automatically stand vacated and the Authorities shall be free to proceed further..The matter would be heard next on April 1..JAL was represented by Senior Advocates Rakesh Dwivedi, Naveen Sinha with Advovcates Vishal Gupta, Rohan Gupta, Sansriti Pathak, Raghav Dwivedi, Kalpana Sinha, Kali Gupta, Shivam Shukla. .YEIDA was represented by Senior Advocate MC Chaturvedi with Advocates Amar Gupta, Gaurav Tripathi, Syed Imran Ibrahim..Read the Order: